Friendship
by dib07
Summary: Sonic decides to spend some time with Tails, away from Chris and the others. But they are tested when the weather turns bad during their camping trip and the way back home has got a lot harder. Disclaimer inside. A requested fic.
1. Chapter 1

**Friendship**

By Dib07

Rating: K+

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><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic's fur carpet, his vending machine or his car bed. Sega sadly does. All of it.<p>

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><p><strong>The idea of this story belongs to Samatha27<strong>

Summary: Sonic decides to spend some time with Tails, away from Chris and the others. But they are tested when the weather turns bad during their camping trip and the way back home has got a lot harder.

This story was requested by: **Samatha27**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1:<strong>

"Sonic! Sonic! Hey!" Tails' voice was driven to a shout when the hedgehog still failed to notice him. He was helping Chris carry the shopping in through the front door and into the large, cavernous kitchen. It was not often that Sonic helped Chris do the chores. He was not even a hedgehog destined to look after human shopping, but lately Chris had been grabbing his attention for the better part of the day. With each and every Eggman attack, Chris became more and more attached to Sonic. And whenever he was around, the boy stuck closely by him. Even last night before bed, Tails could not find the hedgehog on the roof where he usually slept. Instead he found him in Christopher's room admiring his homework for school.

"You carry all those books into the classroom?" He heard Sonic say in an inquisitive voice.

"Yeah, I have to." The boy formally replied, "I have a locker, so it's not so bad."

"Doesn't it slow you down, though?"

Tails waited outside the door in false hope that Sonic was on his way out. He gave up however, and not one for eavesdropping, went back into his own room.

He sat on his large king-sized bed and thought. While his restless mind churned away, his twin tails fidgeted behind him, which they often did when he was troubled. During the time they had been on their own planet, it had just been him and Sonic. Sure, there had always been others like Amy, or Knuckles, but never so much so that he'd never see him in one day.

Never.

He didn't like being a victim of jealously. Rather, he just felt... left out. And the previous loneliness he had felt when he had been alone without a friend was all coming back... ever so suddenly. He had been so young, without a father or mother. Or without a single brother. Most foxes were overcrowded with siblings. But not him.

'_You know what, Sonic's probably busy_.' One thought came to mind, and he felt incredibly shameful for feeling left out when the blue hero was dashing off to destroy bad guys and whatnot.

Still...

They had barely said hello over breakfast.

Was Tails overreacting, or...

He resolved to confront Sonic about this, one way or another.

The stars were sharp and callous. Tapping his foot to an unheard rhythm, Sonic leant back, allowing his arms to stretch against the cold tiles of the roof. Perhaps home was out there, somewhere, drifting amongst the stars like some lost giant in the niche of merciless space?

Like a cat stretching out her claws, Sonic's lethal spines stiffened reflexively for an entire moment before he fully fell into a sated picture of calm.

He closed his eyes, thinking about the roast hazel nuts he had had for lunch and the long run he would take just before dawn when the birds would mount their morning chorus.

"Sonic!" Tails slammed his hands on the roof, ready to rent out his worries.

His brother lurched awake, half in attack mode. His left foot caught in his right and as he tried to rise, he slipped off the tiles and tumbled off the end of the roof in a tangled gurgle of surprise.

Sodden with guilt, Tails came rushing around, his mouth muttering hurried apologies even before he had reached him. Sonic sat on a compost heap, a little confused. However, when he saw Tails scurry towards him, he smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Tails! Caught me unawares!"

"What are you saying sorry for? I should be saying sorry because I made you jump!"

"Well, heh, I'm okay." With dignity, he stumbled erect and dusted off his legs even when there was no need. "So, what's up, lil bro? Everything okay?"

Still feeling awful, the zest of Tails' approach – the very urgency that made him come out here to confront him in the first place was less so. Still, he had to go forwards. He had to. He didn't want to be left alone... to be left behind.

"Well, actually, there was something I wanted to talk to you about."

Sonic watched curiously, his head slightly cocked to one side. It was clear Tails was troubled about something before it had even left his mouth. His expressions were too easy to read. "You can tell me." He encouraged, knowing that Tails would stall. It was true that the hedgehog had little reserve for patience. However, when it came to his friends, he was prepared to do anything. And as such, the little kitson stalled. Considerably. He stood, arms behind his back, eyes downcast.

Of course, at this point Tails had crossed the threshold and had to tell him what was wrong. Otherwise Sonic would simply persist and wouldn't give up trying to know and understand what was so bothering his little buddy.

"Tails..." He breathed softly, "is there somewhere else you wanna, talk?"

"No. It's just..." Sonic could see the rising conflict in his blue eyes. He hated to see the turmoil there, but he also wanted it out in the open so that it could be confronted. And resolved. "It's just... I feel... kinda... left out." He rocked back a little on his heels, feeling like a little kid again. "I know you're busy... I really do. It's just... I miss what we did together. I miss the games. I miss the adventures. We haven't seen much of each other lately."

Sonic frowned as he watched his brother turn round to leave. He chewed on a few stout answers, but none of them came close to how he felt. Had he really let Tails down that much?

"Tails." His voice, so firm and abrupt, stopped the kitson in his tracks. "I have the perfect idea."

"What?" The kitson's blunt reply was not lost on the hedgehog.

"We go camping. Somewhere far from here. It'll be fun!"

Tails seemed less impressed. "Who will we be going with?"

"It'll be just you and me, buddy! No one else! Not even Amy! How's that?"

At that, the kitson's face lifted and his eyes became lucid and clear under the veil of doubt and loneliness. Not even the blue hero was prepared when the fox barrelled into him, arms locking him tight in a choking embrace.

'_He reminds me of myself when I was young.'_ He thought, not quite sure how else to react but to hold him. And to keep the promise he had just made.

"So, first thing tomorrow?" He asked when his ribs couldn't take much more.

Tails parted a little from him, nodding hopefully. Trustingly.

"Where are you going?" Chris was munching on breakfast the very next morning at the kitchen table with Ella cooking up some bacon and eggs. With their permission, Sonic and Tails were able to take a bag and a picnic of assorted foods with them. Chuck had provided the tent from a selection of new and old ones with pride. Picking the lightest of the twelve, Sonic crammed it into the bag.

"Oh, a place." He said with a wink.

"Me and Sonic are going on a camping trip!" Tails burst out, unable to hold down the excitement. Though camping had been a common habit in their world, the excitement never got old.

"I hope it's someplace safe." Ella mentioned from the stove that was creamy with cooking smells, "the weather's going to be awful nasty in the next six hours or so."

Sonic washed away their doubt with a simple, carefree smile. "We'll be fine! And we'll be back before you know it!"

A pink hedgehog walked into the kitchen, hands on her hips. "Camping trip? Aren't you going with me too?"

"No, Amy." Sonic waved a finger at her, realized it was patronizing and instantly dropped the gesture. "It's something me and Tails have gotta do. Training exercises, say?"

Tails giggled.

"I can train too!"

Ears drawn down from her stern, shrill voice, Sonic grabbed his brother's hand and led him through the kitchen and on towards the back door as quick as Tails could walk. They then scrambled into the Tornado while they could still hear Amy screaming and shouting after them as if they had both committed some immoral act.

With the engine warming up, they buckled themselves in and took off into the dusty, bright sunshine that streamed into their faces. Sonic spied Chris and Amy down below, the pink female still trying to holler something at him as they twirled into the heavens. In a joust of fun mockery, he waved at her with a grin on his face. And kept waving, until they were nothing but specks on the ground.

"Hey, Sonic, did you remember to bring a map?" Tails asked loudly against the slap and roar of the wind.

"Oops, I forgot. Ah, who needs it? Besides, do we really wanna get swallowed by Amy if we go back there?"

"Yeah, you're right, we can do without it."

They had only flown a short way when the weather suddenly turned. A hem of dark clouds had built up over the horizon in looming, menacing shapes. The trees below were snapped into a turmoil of sharp gales.

Above the rolling winds, Sonic and Tails seldom noticed the worsening weather. Like always, they appreciated their time in the air, gazing at the expanse of green forests and towns below. Flocks of birds gathered in the near distance. The sun was a hot ball of warmth and joy.

The fact was not lost on Sonic that if it wasn't for Tails, he'd never have been able to touch the skies.

"How far should we go?" Tails asked.

"Not much further. I know a place near here, I think. It's pretty secluded."

Angling the plane down, Tails took them low below the clouds and towards a towering forest of red woods, brazen hills and rough gorges.

Finding a suitable place to land, Tails circled round a flat bit of pasture on the end of a cliff. Everywhere else was too rough with trees.

Having practised and mastered the art of landing, even in tough conditions, the biplane settled on flat grassland. The engine died with a brief, rattling moan and Tails jumped expertly out of the plane, pleased at their remote location.

The place sure looked wild and desolate. Apart from the escalating wind, they could hear nothing. No distant roar of trains, car traffic or any human activity whatsoever.

"Don't forget to jam the wheels with something, buddy." Sonic alerted him before slipping down from the plane, his arms loaded with their bag of supplies. The 'jamming of the wheels' was a failsafe brick or bit of wood that ensured the wheels didn't turn – even with the manual brakes applied. This ensured that the plane didn't move.

"Yeah, sure. Just look at this place though!"

"Yep!"

"Reminds me... of home."

As they walked towards the forest, distracted by their new home for the next few hours, Tails had forgotten to apply the failsafe bit of wood.

And the weather was getting fiercer.

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><p><strong>TBC<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Friendship**

By Dib07

Rating: K+

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><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic's cookies, his alarm clock or his happy pills. Sega sadly does. All of it.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>The idea of this story belongs to Samatha27<strong>

Summary: Sonic decides to spend some time with Tails, away from Chris and the others. But they are tested when the weather turns bad during their camping trip and the way back home has got a lot harder.

This story was requested by: **Samatha27**

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for all your reviews! Means a lot to me! And thank you to <strong>**MilesTailsfox-fan! I'll check out your deviant art page, there's no link so I'll just type in your name! Thanks again!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2:<strong>

Sonic stood by him, nodding to himself with the satisfaction of having found a suitable location that his foster brother had so requested. "Sure looks peaceful, doesn't it?"

Tails misinterpreted the words, and his ears wilted just a little. "You aren't going to be bored here, are you?"

"Nah! Of course not! This'll be fun!"

Together, they walked into the forest in quiet wonder. Bag strapped over one shoulder, Sonic felt for Tails' hand and squeezed it with his own. Surprised at the gesture, but all the more pleased for it, Tails gave him a genuine smile. It was good to be side by side again after so many endeavours, risks and victories.

Too long...

The forest was awash with life. Pockets of sunlight streamed from the canopy of the trees while songbirds flittered in and out of the shadows like lost butterflies. Wild mushrooms grew in moist, dark patches in the secret undergrowth like tufts of ruby treasure.

It was indeed quiet and relaxing. Even talking normally sounded abrasive and loud. But to be really secluded, they went in deeper, drinking in the pleasing atmosphere at every turn.

"So, where shall we set camp?" Meekly asked Tails.

"Here should be good. We've walked far enough." Sonic dropped the bag in relief. "You go collect the firewood. I'll set the tent up and start the kindling."

"Okay, Sonic!" Using his twin tails to fly, he whirled into the distance to gather some wood.

Meanwhile, Sonic battled with the tent, not used to human design or method. As he hammered the pegs into the ground, sure that he was doing an-okay job, he also hoped that this little camping trip would boost Tails' morale right up. It was true that they hadn't had much time together. With Chris's house being too confining, he was hardly around long. Just around to eat and sleep. Heck, things had been mad right from the beginning when chaos control had sent them here without a paddle. It was only natural for Tails to find things difficult now and again.

But enough to be lonely?

This felt like a personal defeat on his part. Sometimes he rushed around too much.

Not long after the tent was made and the kindling had grown into a fully fledged fire, Sonic and Tails sat around it, tucking into their tuna sandwiches that they had packed. The wind had mercilessly picked up, ruffling the tree branches and tossing up the leaves in violent spurts even this deep into the forest.

"So, what are you going to do after tonight, Sonic?"

Sonic shrugged. The flames dancing between them made their fur give off a surreal glow. The wind rarely bothered the fire, but when it did, it threatened to blow the entire thing out altogether. "Stick with you for a few days, I think. Everything else can wait. Say, how 'bout we go to another country in your plane? I hear the cities far to the east serve really good desserts!"

"Do you still have the pocket money Chris gave you?"

Sonic's ears twitched and guiltily looked away with a grin on his face. "Actually, I kinda spent a few buck-things on a bottle of wine for Ella's birthday."

"All of it?"

He rubbed the bottom of his nose. "It was good wine. What, never tasted it?"

"Yeah, it's like drinking floor polish!"

"Well, I'm not in the habit of drinking floor polish, so I wouldn't know."

They broke into free, good natured laughter. It was so loud they even drowned out the drone of the wind for a few heartbeats.

"Hey, remember that time when you couldn't get your Walker to work? And got your head stuck in the chassis?" Sonic asked with a smirk.

The Walker was been a failed experiment that utilized part of Robotnik's old machinery to make a biped walker that housed a single pilot. Of course, the thing had been a menace from the very beginning.

"Well, at least I know how to use knives and forks properly at dinner!" Tails countered happily.

Time sure had gone fast since they had been on this planet.

After a few quiet moments, Sonic soon realized how much time Robotnik was taking from him. Sonic himself dedicated everything he had into defeating him, at the risk of leaving everything else. This could not be helped, and had been something he had previously overlooked. So much of his life used into trying to bring a single human down.

The loose tent flaps at the entrance were being whacked by the incessant coming-storm. The hedgehog could smell rain on the wind as he rose his nose to the air, away from the smoke of their fire. He remembered Ella's words about bad weather coming. He could only hope that it would pass.

Yet the storm didn't pass. The throbbing rain came down, threatening to drown the world. The fire was dampened and then abruptly slaughtered by the harsh hail of water. Panicked, Sonic skidded in the rain, slipping twice before he frantically made it into the tent with a very drenched Tails close at his flanks.

"Just count on the rain to ruin a perfect evening." Sonic retorted, closing the tent flaps with bitter revulsion as if the rain had been poisonous.

Tails smiled despite himself.

Even when they were closed against the elements, the storm was a howling behemoth of restless ire. The whole interior of the tent wobbled and convulsed, and at this point Sonic was not even sure it would stay erect.

"This is getting bad..." Tails tried to close his ears against the relentless fortitude of the storm, "what are we going to do?"

"We'll be fine, buddy. We'll stay dry in here."

They fell asleep under the turbulence of the screaming rain, and came locked away in dreams. Often the sharp wind would wake Sonic up, and after being jolted awake a third time, he rose slightly in his sleeping bag in the middle of the night to lay eyes on Tails' slumbering form. Despite the blistering squall outside, he felt happy. Content.

Tails was right; being here together did bring back its memories. Good ones. Tails had been so shy when they started being friends. Sonic often didn't get much out of him other than the fox's interests on mechanics. Anything else, and the fox would simply freeze up. And then, slowly but surely, he eased up into the confident creature he was now. Rarely Sonic wondered what might have become of him had they not become siblings. He didn't tend to dwell on it. They were here now, and that was all that mattered.

Not long later, a heavy bolt of lightning flashed right by their tent. Tails rolled over within his sleeping bag, mumbling something inaudible. It was the following thunder that both jerked them from their dreams and into an earth-shattering convulsion of nature.

"It's Eggman!" Tails quipped in alarm, still half asleep. Knowing better, Sonic peeled back his blankets and looked all about him.

"No, it's okay. It's the storm." Upon his word like it had been an incantation, another blue spark of long lightening streaked above them and could be clearly seen through the thin fabric roof of the tent. Immediately after, a hot burst of thunder recoiled. So much so, it caused them to feel the vibration in their blankets and from the ground they lay upon.

Almost in reflex, Tails leapt from his blankets, and unable to seek immediate shelter, dove into Sonic and buried his head against his chest.

Knowing that chancing the outside world was a big, NO, Sonic remained in his sleeping bag with Tails curled against him. Eventually it became clear that staying was no good either. The pegs outside, strained to their limit, came undone. As a result, the tent was flung free above their heads, exposing their bodies to the feral wind and soaking rain.

"Let's get to the plane!" Cried Tails.

"Can you take off in this storm?"

"I... I think so!"

Taking the fox's hand, Sonic led him forwards, having no choice but to leave supplies that were already lost in a flood of water that thrashed down the path they had camped at, creating a small river. It was madly impossible to see much in the dark, so Sonic relied on memory and instinct to guide them back. However, the rain made him lose direction. Familiar smells to use as a guide had been wiped clean. Everything moved with the wind. Lightening struck a tree nearby, and as the thunder billowed, the tree went into a pyre of ugly, tortured flame.

"Let's go back!" Tails whimpered, voice barely audible.

"Tails, there is nothing to go back too! We have to find some form of shelter! No way can we take off in a storm like this!"

Keeping a hold of Tails, Sonic jogged down dismal paths, finding the ground hard to grip with so much excess rainwater. It churned up the earth into mud.

Still, he kept going. Tails had his eyes closed and was merely being guided by Sonic. The fox had never been a fan of thunder and lightning.

"I'm sorry I wanted to go camping!"

Sonic glanced back at him, "don't be! It was a good idea! This isn't your fault!"

At last, wet-through and shaky, they made it to a dry cave filled with lichen and moss. A tiny snake darted out from between their shoes before disappearing into the rainy night.

"We should be safe here, Tails." His voice echoed in the cave, but at least they were out of the storm. Even if they had not been here, out with nature, Tails still would have hidden under a bed until the storm had passed, so there was no love lost.

Feeling a little bit safer, Sonic adamantly tried to shake the worst of the rain from his fur, splashing Tails in a minor shower as a result.

"Sonic, I'm glad we're together. I always feel safe when I'm with you."

Sonic gazed at him with curious wonder. "Tails, never forget your own abilities."

"I know."

He smiled. "Good. Because I feel safe with you too. We have each other's backs. And always will."

"Always! Now how am I going to get dry? I feel ten-times wetter, no thanks to you!"

"This fur is high-maintenance! Go find a leaf or something!" Their antics were shortened by another blast of thunder, and so they retreated into the back of the cave to wait it out.

By sunrise the forest was a state. The trees were knocked clean aside (well, not all of them), and the bushes and shrubs looked as though they had been pelted by meteorites. It was safe to say that the forest didn't look anyway the same as it had yesterday. When they went to find the plane, it was a wreck. Both wings were broken and an enormous branch had somehow gone into the engine compartment, stabbing all possible hope of flying home. They had no food and it was a long way back home.

Sonic thought of two things. Racing whilst carrying Tails back home. But carrying Tails all that way would tire him. Another would be to race back home first, tell Chuck to come out and pick Tails up. But that meant leaving the fox for at least an hour or two.

He was deciding on going for the first option when Tails interrupted his train of thought. "Sonic, I'm hungry. Can you find us some food?"

"Sure thing." They came to a tree that was full of apples. The fix flew up to it, grabbed a bunch of apples and came back down. Sonic inspected them, for his was more street-wise when it came to natural foods. They were edible, but small and bitter.

Still hungry, they proceeded towards the outskirts of the forest with a foreign city twinkling in the far distance. When it came down to food, this human world had little to offer. Back home, good was abundant in summer. Now towns, farms and cities dominated everything, and if there was a forest to be had, it was usually dead inside.

"Tails, grab hold of my neck and don't let go. I can brake pretty hard in case I need to."

"What do you mean? Why?"

"We need to get you home. The others will start getting worried, and before long it'll be dark. I won't be able to run as fast while carrying you, but I'm not leaving you behind. So hop on." With that he opened up his arms in readiness to accept him as passenger. And when Tails didn't comply right away, he came forwards and lifted Tails into his arms by himself.

As instructed, the fox held on, and Sonic geared into moderate speed that eventually got faster and faster as Sonic found his natural gait. The wind was like that of the storm. Loud and baffling. As Tails glanced over Sonic's shoulder, he could see a faint blue afterimage travelling behind the hedgehog. He had never noticed that before.

Maybe it was because... Sonic had never carried him before.

The scenery went by in flashes. The grassy green valley turned into boggy farms and paddocks. They continued on, over bridges and concrete towns. Morning rose into the afternoon, and Sonic stopped to grab them food from hawthorn bushes and blueberries. Most of them weren't ripe.

Tails looked at the shop windows, wishing he had brought some of Chris's money with them. Freshly baked bread and the scones sure looked tasty when you were starving hungry.

Taking him back into his arms again, Sonic raced off, heading north. Tails was never sure how the hedgehog so easily ended up where he wanted to be, and either it was just down to luck, instinct or because he had an in-built compass.

Down to the last few miles, they walked back, enjoying the ruby sunset as it descended over a familiar town.

"Next time, let's not go camping!" Tails said with a light-hearted smile. "How 'bout we go fishing?"

"Boring." Sonic imputed without hesitation. "Theme park?"

"Or the theatre!"

"Disco?"

"The Fair?"

"I know," Sonic ended, "let's have a nice, hot shower, get the dust out of our fur and watch a movie. Ever played a card game called Black Jack? Well, I'll teach you."

Hand in hand, they entered the Thorndyke residence, tired and hungry, but together.

Always together.

**The End **

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><p><strong>Dib07: There, hope you enjoyed it! I'm useless leaving footnotes so I'm gonna wrap it up here. I'm not used to writing a Tails and Sonic fic, so this one was interesting. Usually I just write Sonic + ShadowKnuckles ones . If there are any questions, PM me. Thank you for reading!**


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